Voltage controlled oscillators incorporating parascan R varactors

ABSTRACT

A voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capactiors, comprising at least one resonator coupled into a base circuit of a bipolar transistor, said at least one resonator including at least one voltage tunable capacitor. The bipolar transistor includes a collector which terminates in a radial micro strip stub and an emitter which produces an output via an impedance matching circuit. Also, included is an integral switch mode power supply providing power to said base circuit via a first power supply filter, and to a controller via a second power supply filter. The controller scales the user-selected control voltage range to the levels required by said voltage tunable capacitors associated with said at leat one resonator.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/452,508, “VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATORS INCORPORATING PARASCAN® VARACTORS” filed Mar. 06, 2003, by Nicolaas D du Toit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to voltage controlled oscillators (VCO's) and voltage tunable dielectric capacitors.

Prior art VCO's, especially those intended for the 5-13 GHz frequency range, can be classified into five broad categories: VCO's with GaAs-based varactors; VCO's with Si-based varactors; YIG-tuned oscillators; VCO's with active elements other than silicon bipolar transistors; and VCO's with frequency multiplied outputs. However all of the above have disadvantages and shortcomings.

The disadvantage of a VCO's with GaAs-based varactors is higher levels of phase noise due to the lower Q factor and higher noise generated by GaAs-based varactors. A significant disadvantage to VCO's with Si-based varactors is higher levels of phase noise due to the lower Q factor and higher noise generated by Si-based varactors. Major distadvantages of YIG-tuned oscillators are the oscillator has a larger physical volume and mass, it has higher power consumption and slower switching speed due to the heavy magnetic circuit. YIG-tuned oscillators are also prone to microphonics and phase hits.

A drawback of VCO's with active elements other than silicon bipolar transistors is higher levels of phase noise due to the higher flicker noise corner frequency of other active devices. Lastly, disadvantages of VCO's with frequency multiplied outputs are higher levels of far-out phase noise and sub-harmonics due to frequency multiplication process

The terms Parascan® voltage tunable capacitors, Parascan® variable capacitors, Parascan® tunable dielectric capacitors and Parascan® varactors have the same meaning and are interchangeable. Common varactors used today are Silicon and GaAs based diodes. The performance of these varactors is defined by the capacitance ratio, Cmax/Cmin, frequency range and figure of merit, or Q factor (1/tan) at the specified frequency range. The Q factors for these semiconductor varactors for frequencies up to 2 GHz are usually very good. However, at frequencies above 2 GHz, the Q factors of these varactors degrade rapidly. At 10 GHz the Q factors for these varactors are usually only about 30.

Varactors that utilize a thin film ferroelectric ceramic as a voltage tunable element in combination with a superconducting element have been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,042 discloses a thin film ferroelectric varactor having a carrier substrate layer, a high temperature superconducting layer deposited on the substrate, a thin film dielectric deposited on the metallic layer, and a plurality of metallic conductive means disposed on the thin film dielectric, which are placed in electrical contact with RF transmission lines in tuning devices. Another tunable capacitor using a ferroelectric element in combination with a superconducting element is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,194.

Commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/419,126, filed Oct. 15, 1999, and titled “Voltage Tunable Varactors And Tunable Devices Including Such Varactors”, discloses voltage tunable varactors that operate at room temperature and various devices that include such varactors. Commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/434,433, filed Nov. 4, 1999, and titled “Ferroelectric Varactor With Built-In DC Blocks” discloses voltage tunable varactors that include built-in DC blocking capacitors. These varactors operate at room temperatures to provide a tunable capacitance.

The assignee of the present invention and in the patent and patent applications incorporated by reference has developed the materials technology that enables these tunable varactors which have high Q values resulting low losses and extremely high IP3 characteristics, even at high frequencies. The articulation of the novel tunable material technology is elaborated on in the patent and patent application incorporated in by reference.

Therefore, a strong need in the ocsillator industry exists for voltage controlled oscillators (VCO's) that can utilize novel voltage tunable dielectric capacitors to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of existing VCO's.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capactiors, comprising at least one resonator coupled into a base circuit of a bipolar transistor, said at least one resonator including at least one voltage tunable capacitor. The bipolar transistor includes a collector which terminates in a radial micro strip stub and an emitter which produces an output via an impedance matching circuit. Also, included is an integral switch mode power supply providing power to said base circuit via a first power supply filter, and to a controller via a second power supply filter. The controller scales the user-selected control voltage range to the levels required by said voltage tunable capacitors associated with said at leat one resonator.

The resonator of the voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of the present invention can be at least one at micro strip resonator and the bipolar transistor can be a Si-bipolar transistor. The emitter of the bipolar transistor is further terminated into a short-circuited micro strip stub, thus preventing lower modes of oscillation to exist. The present invention can further comprise a buffer amplifier or circulator associated with the impedance matching circuit to reduce the pulling effect where needed. Also, the present invention can further comprise a buffer amplifier in the output circuit to amplify the output power where needed. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the controller can be a simple one-transistor controller and the controller can have a user-specified frequency response, thus aiding integration with phase-locked loop synthesizers.

The present invention further provides a method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capactiors, comprising providing at least one resonator coupled into a base circuit of a bipolar transistor, the at least one resonator including at least one voltage tunable capacitor; the bipolar transistor including a collector which terminates in a radial micro strip stub and an emitter which produces an output via an impedance matching circuit; providing power to the base circuit via a first power supply filter and to a controller via a second power supply filter via an integral switch mode power supply; and scaling the user-selected control voltage range via the controller to the levels required by the voltage tunable capacitors associated with the at least one resonator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of a VCO incorporating Parascan® varactor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides an optimal solution for Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCO's), especially those with output frequencies in the range 5 to 13 GHz. Fundamental mode VCO's incorporating Parascan® varactors and silicon bipolar transistors in embodiments described in this invention, exhibit greatly improved performance in terms of the following parameters:

-   a. Low phase noise; -   b. Low flicker noise corner frequency; -   c. No sub-harmonics; -   d. Low spurious; -   e. Low microphonics; -   f. No phase hits; -   g. Fast switching speed; -   h. Small size; and -   i. Low power consumption;

Turning now to figures, FIG. 1, shown generally as 100, illustrates a functional block diagram of a VCO incorporating Parascan® varactor. Parascan® varactors 105 are used in a microstrip resonator 110 providing a high resonator Q-factor. Negligible noise is generated by the Parascan® varactors 105. The resonator 110 is coupled into the base circuit 115 of a Si-bipolar transistor 120, thus providing a low flicker noise corner frequency.

The collector 125 of the Si-bipolar transistor 120 is terminated in a radial microstrip stub 130 providing an RF short at the frequency of oscillation, thus ensuring the conditions under which oscillation can exist.

The output is coupled via an impedance matching circuit 135 to the emitter 140 of the Si-bipolar transistor 120. The emitter 140 of the Si-bipolar transistor 120 is further terminated into a short-circuited microstrip stub 145, preventing lower modes of oscillation to exist. A buffer amplifier or a circulator 150 may be added in the output circuit to reduce the pulling effect where needed.

A buffer amplifier 150 may be added in the output circuit to amplify the output power 152 where needed. Filtering, via power supply filter 155, the power supply input and regulating the supply voltage essentially eliminate the pushing effect. Control 162 is provided by a simple one-transistor controller 160 which scales the user-selected control voltage range to the levels required by the Parascan® varactors 105. The controller 160 has a user-specified frequency response, thus aiding integration with phase-locked loop synthesizers.

A power supply 175 provides power to an integral switch-mode power supply 170 which generates the rail voltage for the controller 160. Filtering 165 provide sufficient rejection of switching noise prior to reaching controller 160.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The present invention has been described above with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating the performance of specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. 

1. A voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capactiors, comprising: at least one resonator coupled into a base circuit of a bipolar transistor, said at least one resonator including at least one voltage tunable capacitor; said bipolar transistor including a collector which terminates in a radial micro strip stub and an emitter which produces an output via an impedance matching circuit; an integral switch mode power supply providing power to said base circuit via a first power supply filter, and to a controller via a second power supply filter; and said controller scales the user-selected control voltage range to the levels required by said voltage tunable capacitors associated with said at least one resonator.
 2. The voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of claim 1, wherein said at least one resonator is at least one at micro strip resonator.
 3. The voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of claim 1, wherein said bipolar transistor is a Si-bipolar transistor.
 4. The voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of claim 1, wherein said emitter of said bipolar transistor is further terminated into a short-circuited micro strip stub, preventing lower modes of oscillation to exist.
 5. The voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of claim 1, further comprising a buffer amplifier associated with said impedance matching circuit to reduce the pulling effect where needed.
 6. The voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of claim 1, further comprising a circulator associated with said impedance matching circuit to reduce the pulling effect where needed.
 7. The voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of claim 1, further comprising a buffer amplifier in the output circuit to amplify the output power where needed.
 8. The voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of claim 1, wherein said controller is a simple one-transistor controller.
 9. The voltage controlled oscillator incorporating voltage tunable capacitors of claim 1, wherein said controller has a user-specified frequency response, thus aiding integration with phase-locked loop synthesizers.
 10. A method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capactiors, comprising: providing at least one resonator coupled into a base circuit of a bipolar transistor, said at least one resonator including at least one voltage tunable capacitor; said bipolar transistor including a collector which terminates in a radial micro strip stub and an emitter which produces an output via an impedance matching circuit; providing power to said base circuit via a first power supply filter and to a controller via a second power supply filter via an integral switch mode power supply; and scaling the user-selected control voltage range via said controller to the levels required by said voltage tunable capacitors associated with said at least one resonator.
 11. The method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capacitors of claim 10, wherein said at least one resonator is at least one at micro strip resonator.
 12. The method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capacitors of claim 10, wherein said bipolar transistor is a Si-bipolar transistor.
 13. The method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capacitors of claim 10, wherein said emitter of said bipolar transistor is further terminated into a short-circuited micro strip stub, preventing lower modes of oscillation to exist.
 14. The method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capacitors of claim 10, further comprising the step of providing a buffer amplifier associated with said impedance matching circuit to reduce the pulling effect where needed.
 15. The method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capacitors of claim 10, further comprising the step of providing a circulator associated with said impedance matching circuit to reduce the pulling effect where needed.
 16. The method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capacitors of claim 10, further comprising the step of providing a buffer amplifier in the output circuit to amplify the output power where needed.
 17. The method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capacitors of claim 10, wherein said controller is a simple one-transistor controller.
 18. The method of controlling an oscillator using voltage tunable capacitors of claim 10, wherein said controller has a user-specified frequency response, thus aiding integration with phase-locked loop synthesizers. 